Stories about heart

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“Father, what do we live for?”
“What do you mean?”
“You came, you built a family, and now all that remains of you are pictures throughout the house, and memories scattered throughout your family and relatives. But slowly, the pictures will get old, packed in big forgotten cardboard boxes. And the memories will retreat further inside, as room for newer ones is made… So, then if life will wash away all of our efforts, why move in the first place?”
“You have been to an eye specialist, right?”
“Yes, but please don’t change the topic.”
He smiles, and continues,
“When the eye specialist has to decide ...

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In the centre of a wave of silence, where I sit inside a shed, You are the tools that I have used to build this home. When people debate about You, You sneak into the smile that travels across my face. You are in the noise that is aroused but more so in the silence that follows. Because what is every word but a pointless effort to imitate the sweet pleasure which roams casually inside silence?
Your name is constantly provoked in different forms, in different accents, and You are denied in different languages, in different ways. Lives are spent in defending ...

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My father-in-law, Abdullah Khadim Husain or ‘Abbu’ as we called him, suddenly died of heart failure a couple of months ago while visiting one of his children in Virginia. Although he did have a history of heart disease, he was apparently in good health, which is why his demise came as a total shock.
Since most of his children now reside in the US, it was decided to bury him at the National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia instead of taking the body back to Pakistan, and so the burial arrangements were made. The question, however, came up as to what ...

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“What is beauty, father?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I look at this glass in front of us and my eyes spot the reflected light from the glass on the table, and I’m baffled by these patterns, by this beauty which is perfectly still, perfectly independent, and calm.”
“So, is beauty only in still and independent objects?”
“I don’t think so. When I see the sea or the water inside this glass if it were to be shaken wildly, my eyes start to float along the waves, and I’m once again mesmerised by the water’s endless movement, its indifference, its power, and ...

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Young at heart and seasoned with emotions is how one would best describe the ingredients of the movie Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. There are films that cine-fans want to watch over and over again, and this is one such movie for sure.
Needless to say, the movie is the outcome of the hard work of a great production house, promising debutante director Shashank Khaitan, and actors Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Shukla. What else could one expect from such an attempt?
This is the typical story of a soon-to-be-wed girl, Kavya (Alia Bhatt), trying to live her life to the fullest before marriage. She makes ...

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Whenever I see her, her eyes haunt me. The sadness in them is unspeakable and the horrors of her life, incomprehensible. She is young and beautiful yet her heart yearns for a minute of peace and happiness. She is Sarah*, a married girl who lives with her in-laws.
Sarah married into a family of four sisters where her husband was the only son.
The torture began almost immediately.
Her three unmarried sisters-in-law cannot stand the very sight of her. They never speak a kind word to her, and always address her with stern and blank expressions on their faces. The very faces that smile ...

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Mahatma Gandhi shares an interesting anecdote in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.
“One day an ardent atheist heckled a Christian clergyman.
‘Well, sir, you believe in the existence of God?’
‘I do,’ said the good man in a low tone.
‘You also agree that the circumference of the earth is 28,000 miles, don’t you?’ said the atheist with a smile of self-assurance.
‘Indeed.’
‘Prithee, tell me the size of your God and where he may be?’
‘Well, if we but knew, He resides in the hearts of us both.’
And the atheist shook his head in disbelief.”
In my view, the clergyman was right to ...

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I am often asked by my family and friends in Toronto about whether or not I would want to go back to Pakistan after completing my degree here. This question stimulates a range of mixed emotions in me; I think of a lot of factors ranging from the prevailing security situation to job security, job progression and of course my parents’ expectations from me. However, at the end of the day, I always tell them that I will go back.
To this, I often hear people saying,
“We will see after two years.”
Or
“Everybody goes through this patriotic phase, you’ll get over it.”
Frankly speaking, ...

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Dear Back-bencher,
How are you?
I hope you are doing well. I really wish this from the bottom of my heart.
Let me start by saying how sorry I am to judge you.
I remember that time in school, when I was a snob and you were the guy who teased everyone, including myself. I was wrong to react the way I did towards your attitude towards life. I would secretly smirk when teachers would scold you. And I know I didn’t even talk to you, but I tried my best to be nice to you, simple because I felt sorry for you.
You ...

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This story about a pregnant 25-year-old woman, Farzana Parveen, being bashed to death with bricks by her brothers and uncles because she dared to marry of her own choice, is the kind of news that makes your heart drop and your stomach churn. It’s being called an ‘honour killing’ in the press but it is murder – in fact, we should call it an execution.
Farzana was going to court in Lahore to testify that she had married her husband out of choice, in response to a fake kidnapping case brought about by her family who were enraged that she ...